I woke up and looked at the clock. It was five-thirty in the morning. And Tray wasn’t beside me. Getting up, I padded out the door and into the hallway. He’d put me in the same room we’d slept in before. As I circled the stairs, I could hear voices from the library.

What the fuck?

I recognized Carter and Bryce’s voice.

“Seriously, dude. Come on,” Carter said.

“I can’t.” Tray replied, sounding exhausted.

“You’re up, man. What’s the problem?”

“I’ve got to finish some stuff up before school.” I could hear the sleepiness in his voice. And I instantly felt guilty. It must’ve been seven-thirty or eight when I nodded off to sleep last night. That meant Tray had either catnapped during the night or had stayed up the entire night. While I’d been sleeping like a baby.

Guessing from the waft of coffee I got, I was guessing he’d been up all night.

I slipped inside, but Bryce and Carter didn’t notice me right away.

Carter was saying, “School won’t care. We can leave now and you’ll be back in time to bang Taryn after school.”

Thanks.

Tray grinned at that, meeting my eyes, “Sound okay with you?”

“Oh shit!” Carter wheeled around, eyes wide as he saw me.

Bryce tipped his head back and laughed.

“Now I know how you really feel,” I only murmured, moving to curl up in the chair next to Tray’s.

“Oh God. I’m sorry, Taryn, I didn’t mean—” But he just shut up, shaking his head in surrender.

I grinned, resting my cheek against my knees as I pulled them against my chest. “Carter, your simplicity is refreshing at times.”

Bryce laughed harder.

Carter looked like he’d blush if he was capable of it. I didn’t think he had the capability for it though.

Tray just grinned half-heartedly, as he looked back to the computer’s screen.

I wanted to ask how long he’d been up and what he learned, but I didn’t want to broach the conversation with Carter and Bryce there. They didn’t need to get curious about what would keep Tray up all night, if he wasn’t ‘banging’ me.

“Taryn, we heard you were forced to join the swim team,” Bryce commented, the laughter subsiding.

“Yeah,” I sighed, “but that’s okay.”

“Well, then you would appreciate our efforts here.” Carter was back, charm and all. “We’re trying to persuade Tray to come on a trip with us. The coast is supposed to have some record waves today. How can we miss this chance?”

“I didn’t know you guys surfed.”

“We don’t. Not that much, but we like to try every now and then,” Bryce said truthfully.

“Whatever. I surf!” Carter declared.

“Yeah and, until recently, you had been going to a boarding school thirty minutes from the coast. We don’t live on the coast, it’s a good three hour drive. At least,” Tray slipped in.

“Come on!” Carter tried again, looking exasperated.

“I’m not going so you might as well as stop wasting your time,” Tray murmured, focused on the computer.

I took a sip from his coffee. Holy crap it was strong. Yep, he’d been up all night.

Carter grumbled, muttering something under his breath.

Bryce was watching him, amused.

Carter must’ve accepted defeat because he turned on me. “Taryn, since we’re up, how about you make the morning worth it? Maybe a lap dance, or you could just get naked.”

“I already hauled your ass on the floor the last time you suggested this. Want another round?” I delivered smoothly, grinning over Tray’s mug.

“Man,” he whined, settling further in his chair, “I thought moving here would be more fun than this. This blows so far. Tray won’t go surfing. His girl won’t strip for us.”

Bryce grinned, before hitting Carter on the back of his head. “Cheer up, cousin. You bagged Jasmine on your first day of school. That’s gotta be a record.”

“Oh yeah.” Carter grinned. “Good memories.”

“Does that count? It’s easy to score with a girl you scored the entire weekend with,” Tray remarked, shooting his foot out and kicking Carter off his chair.

“Hey,” Carter yelped, glaring at him as he crawled back up, “it counts. The weekend was just a weekend. My first day at school was my first day at school.”

“You should go for Tristan.” I couldn’t help but speak up. “She’d be more of a challenge, wouldn’t she?”

“That tight-ass?” Carter laughed. “Hell no. She’s rolled so tight a pencil wouldn’t get in there.”

Bad imagery.

“She slept with Brent Garretts, didn’t she?” Bryce asked. “You should go for her, Carter.”

“That’d be entertaining for all of us,” Tray added as he reached to take his coffee-mug from my hands.

“I don’t know. She’s kind of—”

“What? Scary?” I laughed, seeing him blanch.

“Yeah. And she’s got this scary thing about Tray still. Plus, her and Mandy are best friends.”

“Speaking of Mandy,” Bryce spoke up, “Taryn, where is Mandy? I called Devon to ask about her, but he won’t answer his phone.”

Fuck. I’d forgotten about Devon. Well, if Mandy wanted him to know, then she could tell him herself.

“I can’t say anything,” I said firmly.

“So, it’s serious?” Carter asked, suddenly somber.

“I really can’t say anything. Sorry.”

“But she’s, like, alive, right?”

“Yeah. She’s fine. Not dying or anything.” I made my tone light, just to appease him. I could tell that the guy truly cared about her.

“Maybe I should try to bag Tristan. I mean, she’s gotta be more interesting than Jaz, right? But then again,” Carter mused, the Mandy topic dropped just as quickly as it came up, “Jaz has to be better in bed than Tristan any day.”

I hated that I saw all three of the guys sharing a look with each other.

All three of them had been with her.

“You guys make me sick,” I announced, crossing my arms over my chest.

Tray laughed as he reached out to rub his hand down my leg. He grabbed my chair and yanked me closer, where he could comfortably rest his hand on my leg.

Bryce just grinned, staying quiet.

“No,” Carter exclaimed, “I’ll do it. I’m going to bag Tristan.”

“This should be interesting.” Bryce watched his cousin. “Tristan’s not a fan of yours.”

“I know. All the more challenging.”

“You better get ready for your ass to be handed to you,” Bryce warned. “The only guy Tristan’s actually ran to was Tray.”

“What about Brent Garretts?”

“She slept with him to piss off Amber and Casners.”

“You’re more on the up and up on the gossip than me, Bryce. I’m impressed.” I laughed, loving his look of embarrassment.

“I have lab with Amber.” As if that made perfect sense. But it actually did. I kind of felt sorry for Bryce in that moment. I could see him sitting there, helpless, as Amber launched into one of her tirades. One after another.

I caught Tray resting his eyes for a moment, before he yawned again.

“Okay,” I announced, “I’m taking the duty of girlfriend serious right now. You two, out. Now.”

“What?” Carter whined, but he stood anyway. It was just for show, which I was learning was how Carter mostly was. 75% show, 25% real.

“Yeah, yeah.” Bryce stood too and clipped his cousin on the back of his head again. But as they moved down the hallway, I heard Bryce yelp. Carter must’ve gotten his revenge. And then the door opened and shut.

“You been up all night?” I asked Tray, feeling guilty how well rested I felt.

“On and off. I got some sleep, but there was some stuff still bothering me so I couldn’t stay in bed.”

“What have you found out?” I asked the question lightly, but I felt my words die in my throat when I saw Tray grow still again. One of those frozen moments, when I knew something serious was going on.

He’d found out something serious. Probably about me, judging by the way he was looking at me. Like he was figuring out how to break the news to me, whatever he had found. And how he knew I wouldn’t like it.

“Oh god,” I murmured.

“Taryn,” he began, moving to face me squarely, “I think…I think Jace arranged your adoption.”

What?

He took a deep breath. “You moved to Rawley because you were adopted. So I searched for some local adoption agencies and found one that looked…familiar.”

I didn’t even know I was holding my breath.

“It’s called The Evanson Family Resources and it’s sponsored by one of Galverson’s aliases.”

“How do you know that?”

“I called your friend Props and had him run some of the information for me. He verified what I found out on the internet. The adoption agency was recently funded and it’s only had one adoption go through: yours.

“Evanson?”

“Yeah,” Tray clipped out, I saw the hardness enter his eyes, “I think my dad was the one behind your adoption. I think Jace went to him and asked him to arrange the adoption. I think he just wanted you out of town and he didn’t care where you went. And I think it was my dad who approached your parents. A sizeable chunk of money showed up in your family’s account the day your adoption was legalized.”

“How much?” I asked, but I didn’t want to know. I didn’t want to know any of it.

“Ten million.”

It was too much. It was a fee. I’d been bought and paid for. I’d been a fucking business deal.

“Oh my God,” I said, my voice tiny.

But it was right. Everything clicked.

They adopted a seventeen year old female. They were never home. Mandy had let it slip that they’d been told that they were adopting someone.

“Tristan said an old friend had approached them and asked if they would consider adoption,” I murmured, my eyes glazed over. “Mandy told her that.”

“I think Mandy got the drugs from your dad. I think your dad was one of my dad’s local clients. He mentioned he had a few high rollers in town who liked prescription drugs. It makes sense now.” Tray bit out. “I’m sorry, Taryn.”

“It always goes back to drugs.” I didn’t know what I was saying. So much. So much had happened. My life had been turned inside and out, and this was the last straw. “Is it always about drugs and money?!” I cried out.

“You’re asking the wrong person.”

“I wanted a new life,” I said faintly, standing, hugging myself. “I wanted a family. I was determined that I’d do anything for a family. I was going to be perfect. I was going to go to school. Not have sex. Not do…everything that I’d done before. And now…I got that family because of what I was doing before. Because Jace didn’t want me to find out all his dirty little secrets.”

“Taryn—”

“He bought me a fucking family! I was a fucking business deal!” I screamed.

“Not to Mandy and I’m pretty sure not to Austin. I don’t think you were a business deal to them.” Tray said firmly.

“Evans and Galverson together. It’s how they came up with the name.”

“Not real bright, but that’s my dad for you.”

I didn’t know what to think. What to feel. I didn’t even know what to believe or who to believe anymore.

“I don’t think it was Kevin.” I murmured, softly, thinking.

“What?”

“He’s always gone on some kind of medical conferences or at the hospital. I don’t think it was him at all. It’s Shelley.” Shelley who couldn’t handle disciplining a fourteen year old. Who made Mandy do the dirty work. Either Mandy or me. Oh no. It wasn’t Kevin at all—this was all Shelley. And I’d bet anything that she first got the drugs from her doctor husband, but he wasn’t around enough to keep the prescriptions filled. So she ran to Tray’s dad.

Who knows, maybe they’d had a thing going on. Maybe it was another reason for his mom’s suicide attempt.

“I feel sick,” I muttered, right before I dashed to the bathroom and actually was sick.

My insides wanted out. Again. Again and again and again.

There weren’t any tears. Not after everything. Brian. My breakdown. And now this…I was just sick and more determined.

I wanted everyone to go down.

Jace.

Shelley.

Galverson.

Fucking everyone.

Even Tray’s dad, but that was Tray’s business. His to handle.

A little shaky, I brushed my teeth and went back to the library a little later when my stomach was calmer.

Tray just looked exhausted.

“You okay?” he asked quietly.

I saw the concern written all over his face and a small part of my world felt right.

“I’ll be okay,” I promised.

“You’re handling it better than I thought.”

“I’ve got nothing left inside of me. I’m done crying and I refuse to be a dry-heaver.” I joked, half-assed as I stood in front of the window.

“I’m sorry I had to be the one to tell you that.”

“Makes sense,” I said. And it did. It all made sense now. Everything. It all ran in one big circle, all circulating around the addiction of drugs.

“You can’t go home, you know.”

“I know.”

“If you do, you can’t go off on your parents.”

“I know.” I wanted to. I really, really wanted to. I was a fucking deal. I meant next to nothing to them. “So what else did you figure out?”

“Jace wanted you out of Pedlam because of the drugs that he and Galverson would have shipping through, from Broozer’s business. He knew you’d find out and you wouldn’t stand for it. So he arranged for your adoption to get you out of Pedlam.”

It was the only thing that could’ve done it. Jace knew that.

“The plans to remodel the school had gotten approved last fall in a town meeting. That means that either the committee chair is involved or the mayor’s fucking involved. Jace was busy. He must own the police force too, to get the river runs flagged through or at least not checked ever. And that second warehouse, it’s right smack in the middle of some property that my dad bought six years ago. The warehouse, by default, is owned by my dad.”

“Guess your dad’s not as inactive in South America as you thought.”

Tray looked like he could murder someone. In that moment, that second, I really believed he could’ve.

“That means I own the building.”

I heard it in his voice.

I heard his decision made and I looked back, my breath captive in my throat as I searched his eyes. Trying to figure out what he was really thinking.

“What are you going to do?” I asked hoarsely, not really wanting to know.

Tray grinned. It was a bitter, hardened grin. And it made me want him. In that second I could’ve taken him down, because I was finding that his ruthlessness was a turn-on for me.

“I’m going to foreclose on some of my properties.”

“That’ll tip ‘em off.”

“No. I’m going to have it done when we have everything we need and we can’t be touched. That’s when I’ll sic my lawyers on ‘em.”

“Your dad gave you power of attorney over everything?”

“Yeah. Over everything, but he probably didn’t figure I’d find these out.”

“So you actually own the warehouse, but that doesn’t help us getting in there.”

“No, but it’ll make me feel better, knowing that I can take it away from Lanser,” Tray bit out, running a hand over his tired face.

“Are you going to make it through school?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I probably just won’t be able to make sense of a whole lot.”

“So what else did you find out?” Again. I didn’t know if I wanted to know. Everything he told me made my stomach roll over.

“There’s a field that connects the warehouse to the river, which is probably how they get everything into the school. I really think everything’s just being stored until the drug-runners can load up for another run. But I’m also pretty sure it’s not just drugs, but a whole ton of shit. Brian had a bracelet for you, right? No doubt that was hocked somewhere, waiting to be sold to a highest bidder on the black-market.”

“How are they getting everyone in and out of Pedlam without the cops noticing? They can’t have every cop on their payroll.”

“The conferences,” Tray explained. “There are conferences and concerts in Pedlam all the time. And those numbers have actually gone up, so that means more and more people are going through Pedlam. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that most of those concerts are booked to play at the Seven8 or that most of the conferences are held in a banquet recreation center, which my father also owns.”

“And now you own.”

“Yeah,” he sounded bitter, “I didn’t know that I was a fucking landlord.”

“If you have power of attorney, how is it that none of these rewards are going to you?”

“Some of them are, I’m sure. My dad was chief of police, but my mom actually had a real-estate business. So a lot of her properties are still thriving and that money goes to my account. I don’t check it on a monthly basis. I usually have my accountants check it around tax time, but I’m betting Dad had it worked so that everything filtered through Galverson’s accounts first.”

“Wow.”

“Tell me about it.”

“A lot of planning and thinking went into this.”

“And we figured it out in the matter of a week. Give or take.”

“You figured this out. And you did it all in one night,” I breathed, appreciating how intelligent Tray really was. No wonder his brother wanted him on his side. Tray was formidable, either way. As an ally or an enemy. I wouldn’t want to go against him, but then again, that’s what people say about me, too.

“Yeah, well…you gave me the right motivation.”

“Would you rather I didn’t? That I wouldn’t have done anything, even moved here?”

“No.” It was quick and so sure, I never doubted the genuineness. The honesty rang true in his voice.

I found myself melting, a familiar emotion when I was around this boy.

Checking the clock, I saw it was almost seven.

Fucking seven in the morning.

“We have to be at school in an hour and half.”

Thank God I’d packed a bag last week, planning on being at Tray’s for a while. I was in no mood to slip into my room, dress, and sneak back out. And if I ran into either Shelley or Kevin, I don’t think I could keep my fucking composure. But right now, I was good. I was steady. Just wanting to get in, get whatever information we needed, find Grayley, and get out. Ready to take everyone down with us, if need be.

“I’d offer to have sex with you, but I’m afraid I’d fall asleep after and not wake up.” Tray joked as he yawned, standing to go into the kitchen.

I followed and hopped on a barstool, watching him refill his mug. As he took a second one out for me, I remarked, “So we’re both sans-parents.”

Tray grinned at that, sweetening my coffee. I’d like to think I’m one of those hard-asses who only take their coffee black—black and strong. But I’m not. I’ve got a sweet tooth, hence my addiction to Tray Evans.

The sex was not just sweet, but it melted my pants off. Every time.

I grinned at that thought.

“I’m going to go and shower.” Tray set the mug in front of me and headed out the backdoor, to the pool-house.

Checking the clock, I remembered that Brian used to always be up at rehab by this time. Grabbing my cell, I called the main desk. Patricia might still be working. Sometimes she’d do overnights and she always patched me to Brian’s room. It was nice being liked by the front desk clerk.

“Hello, Northeast Rehabilitation Center. This is Patricia speaking.”

“Pat, it’s Taryn.”

“Oh, Taryn!” I heard the warmth in her voice. “How are you, dear?”

“I’m good. I was wondering if my sister might be awake?”

“I’ll put you through right away. You come and visit, Taryn. I mean it.” Then I heard her transfer me.

“Hello?” Mandy was awake, but barely, by the sound of it.

“Hey, sis.”

“Taryn?!” she asked sharply, suddenly more awake.

“The one and only, sister dear.”

“Holy shit. How are you? Are you okay? Tray called me Saturday morning. I’m so sorry, Taryn.”

“I’m…,” I hesitated. This was Mandy and I had grown to love her, even if I were just worth a mere ten million to her parents. “I’m getting through it.”

“I thought I had it bad, you bringing me, but man—I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to Devon.”

“And speaking of Devon, does he know where you are?”

“Yeah, I called him. He came to visit Sunday and yesterday.”

“Tray said Shelley and Kevin showed up at his house yesterday looking for me.”

“Yeah, the counselors called them. I think they’re coming out today to see me. Not looking forward to that.”

“Austin said your mom found your pills one other time.”

“Whatever. Those were more her pills than mine. Dad was there, that’s the only reason she even made a big deal about them.”

I was right. But my heart just dropped a little at the knowledge.

“But I’m going to say something when they get here. I even talked to my one-on-one counselor about it. Karen said they can’t make Mom stay and get into rehab, but she said it’s good to have everything out in the open. It jumpstarts the healing process or some shit like that.”

I had to grin at that. Mandy. Swearing. I must be rubbing off on her.

“So, you got through the weekend? I know those are the hardest, the first few days.”

“Yeah, it sucks, but…I’m here for a reason. Devon broke down crying on Sunday and that just killed me. But I needed to see that, you know. Karen said I need to know how my actions and decisions affect other people. Something about The Impact.”

I remembered. The Impact referred to how you hurt others by your decisions and how your decision was a selfish act. Kind of like a ripple effect. I’d heard before when I attended a few sessions with Brian. But later he told me that he got more motivated from watching me leave with Jace. He hated any time I spent with Jace while he was in rehab. It just grated at him.

The Impact had no impact.

“It’s good that you saw that.”

“Yeah, well…I hope Devon doesn’t start sleeping with Jasmine again. That’d be awful.”

Oh the weight of her problems. She’s in rehab and she’s worrying that her boyfriend might cheat on her.

“I think you have more important issues to deal with,” I said lightly.

“I know, but still…it’d be just like him to use this as an excuse. He’d probably say something like he couldn’t handle the pressure of having his girlfriend in rehab so he slept with Jasmine when he was weak.”

“Should’ve stuck with Carter.”

Mandy was silent at that. We both knew Carter wouldn’t ever cheat on her, even for all his loud-mouthed reputation. We both knew the real Carter and he’s not weak like Devon. But Mandy had chosen and she’d chosen what was more comfortable for her.

“So should I tell Mom and Dad where you’re hiding out at? Or keep my mouth shut?”

“Tray told ‘em I was in Pedlam. I’d prefer if they believed that.” But I didn’t want her to feel like she owed me anything.

“Okay, Mom and Dad are fine as long as you’re not with Tray. Someone must’ve told them that you guys are dating for them to ever show up there. I bet that went off well when they heard that. Mom and Dad hate Tray. Especially Mom, but you’d think Dad would hate him more.”

“I think they’ll forget about it when they get there,” I said dryly, reaching for my coffee.

“Yeah. Good point.” Mandy yawned on her end.

“I’m going to go, but I’ll call you later.”

“Okay. Thanks for calling, sis.”

“Yeah. Bye.”

“Love you.”

My phone halted, mid-motion when I heard her. I found myself pulling the phone back to my ear and I said softly, “Love you too.”

I did. It’s why I did what I did for her.

Hell. I’d even started to love the fourteen year old punk.

*

School was easier to get through than what I’d thought. Maybe it was because I knew things were in motion. Maybe it was because I knew that my life, and Tray’s, would irrevocably be changed. Somehow. Or maybe it was because I wasn’t quite ready for what was coming.

I was itching to get inside that warehouse.

But I’d swim after school. That’d help. Hopefully Coach would even have us race today. I had energy to burn. And, of course, none of it had to do with the fact that I’d slept from eight at night till five-thirty in the morning. That’s like…nine and a half hours of sleep.

Tray: zero.

I still felt bad about that.

I was surprised, a good surprise, to see that Brady had first and second period with me. Who’da thunk it.

Brady waved me over in first period. Tray looked half dead in second period, but I didn’t need to worry. Carter sat beside him and was keeping him awake, by annoying him.

Molly grinned welcomingly as I sat beside her. This was my third or fourth time actually going to XX. I still liked to skip for study hall, but just pretended that I kept forgetting.

Brady slid into a seat at the table behind us with another swimmer, Lexie.

I introduced Molly to them and I thought Molly would die happy. Brady and Lexie immediately enfolded her in their clique.

I glanced over, and saw that Tray was watching me. I smiled, a soft smile and he returned it.

“That’s a Tray that I’ve never seen before,” Brady remarked, catching the look we shared.

“What do you mean?”

“He’s transformed.”

“But he’s still hot,” Lexie put her two cents in.

“He’s like a tamed panther,” Molly remarked. Which shocked me. She was talking with two strangers. Getting with Larkins was working, kinda like action therapy or something.

“Kind of, yeah,” Brady remarked, frowning slightly at Molly, like she was an enigma to her.

Molly noticed the look and quickly looked to her lap. She was back to being an Invisible.

I nudged her shoulder and commented, “Tray’ll like being called a tamed panther. I’ll tell him that tonight when we’re having sex.”

“Oh God.” The blush was back. I couldn’t go a day at school without at least one from her.

Brady and Lexie grinned, seeing my amusement.

“He’ll think I’m calling him a sex panther.”

Anchorman was just one of the greats. No way around it.

Brady and Lexie laughed at that.

“Do you have to be so loud and annoying?”

Of course, I couldn’t go through one morning without at least one attack by either Amber, Sasha, or now Tristan.

This time, it was Sasha.

“Mr. Hauge,” Sasha whined, her voice actually grating against my ears, “can they please work quietly? This isn’t social hour.”

But before I could blast her right back—and I had the perfect comeback—Tray yawned, and remarked casually, “Just shut up the fuck up, Klinnleys. You’re irritating.”

And that was all it took. I knew Sasha wouldn’t say one word to me for the rest of the year.

The sleeping panther god had spoken.

“Yep,” Brady whispered,” tamed.”

But Sasha had been quieted. Now I only had Amber and Tristan to look forward to.

Note that Tray didn’t get reprimanded for swearing in front of the teacher. The panther god was above that rule. But whatever. He was mine.

Third and fourth passed without event. And lunch was a surprise. I sat with Brady and the rest. Molly even came over towards the end when Kayden and Angela had sulked off to the shadows. She was welcomed whole-heartedly, which made me happy. But sad at the same time because it meant Kayden and Angela might be losing a friend. But another Invisible would probably take Molly’s place, eventually.

I didn’t look for Props, figured he was already on his computer.

Tray sat, sleeping, at the table with the ‘popular’ crowd: Carter, Amber, Jasmine, Bryce, and Devon. Devon had been watching me throughout lunch, but I had no inclination to go over and talk to him. I’d done my part and had called Mandy. That was enough. I did not need to go make nice to her probably-future-cheating boyfriend.

By seventh period I’d come to the realization that school had become boring. When did school become boring? People either didn’t say anything to me, especially after Tray shot down Sasha, but I noticed that this had started the week before. I must’ve been getting a reputation not to be messed with. Maybe. I don’t know, but I realized that either they didn’t say anything to me or whatever I said, went. Just like that.

I’d never had that power.

That’s what Tray must feel like on a daily basis, for years now.

Wow. It was…just powerful. A control that you couldn’t even explain. But it was also boring. No wonder I’d rocked his world.

Swimming helped with the restless energy that I was carrying around. Coach paired us off. Lexie and I raced first. I won. I won every match after that and I saw our coach a bit speechless at times.

I relished the victory over Tristan. I kicked her ass. Which felt so good. And Brady and I were the last match of practice. Everyone had been holding their breaths. Brady and I both consecutively won every match. There were a few others who had won, but it was me and Brady matching up. Everyone knew.

And when the gun went off, I dove in and poured all my fury into my swimming.

Shelley. Kevin. Jace. Galverson. Hell, even Devon. Everything.

And I was surprised when I finished and saw that I was three complete laps ahead of Brady.

The coach had dropped his clipboard.

“Nationals here we come.” One of the girls whistled. The rest were still amazed. Speechless.

Tristan looked…constipated. I didn’t know what that look was. I couldn’t tell if she was angry, jealous, or glad.

“Okay.” The coach tried for dignified as he stooped to pick up his clipboard. “That’s practice today.”

As I left, Brady walking beside me, I saw the rest of the girls take notice. Brady was okay being second. She was okay that I was first, so the rest would be too.

Tray was sitting at my locker, his eyes closed, probably sleeping.

Brady and I paused as we stood there, just in front of him.

“Get up, you dumbass, you’re not sleeping.” His breathing wasn’t deep enough or even enough.

“Doesn’t mean I wasn’t trying,” he remarked, but kept his eyes closed. But he said, as I opened my locker, “Gentley called. They got what we wanted.”

I looked up, alarmed, since Brady was still there. Tray hadn’t seen her yet.

“Brady, you know Tray?”

Tray opened his eyes at that one and cursed, swiftly standing up.

“I know who Tray Evans is,” Brady said lightly, “but I doubt he knows who I am.”

“Bannon’s girlfriend, right?” Tray held his hand out, “Nice to meet you. You a friend of Taryn’s?”

“Yep, I’d like to think so. We’re on the swim team together.”

“Brady’s one of the captains, which says something since she’s still a junior,” I remarked, grabbing my bag and purse.

Tray nodded, silent.

“It’s nice to formally meet you, Tray, although we’ve met many times in elementary.” Which was true, but this was a social introduction. Everyone really knew everyone, when you got down to it. But socially, Brady had just jumped up a level. She needed a proper introduction for that.

“You too. You’re number one in class, right?” Tray had surprised her. I could tell because Brady was momentarily speechless, before she replied, “Uh, yeah.”

“I’m second,” he said swiftly, grinning cockily.

“You are?” I don’t think she meant to have such dumbfounded shock in her voice.

“Tray’s actually a genius,” I remarked, leaning my back against him, feeling his hand come around to rest on my waist, hooking his finger on one of my belt loops. “He just acts dumb most of the time.”

Tray chuckled, kissing the side of my face, “You never cared about my intelligence before.”

“As long as you keep performing well in bed, I won’t ever have to.” I grinned. Joking.

“Okay,” Brady remarked, nodding, “well, I’ll see you tomorrow. I might hit the pool early if you want to join me, Taryn.”

“Maybe.” But I knew I wouldn’t. I’d be lucky if I was even in school tomorrow at all.

When she left, Tray murmured quietly, for my ears only, “Ready to go?”

I met his eyes and we both knew I was—I’d been ready since this entire war had been declared.

I was pretty sure Brady wouldn’t have recognized me, if she saw me in that second. But Tray and I, we were in perfect accord.

Both of us were ready to end this. One way or another.